Psychological burdern of everyday discrimination

Professor Ray Lovett. Photo: ANU Everyday discrimination could be contributing up to half of the burden of psychological distress among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults, according to a first-of-its-kind study by researchers at The Australian National University (ANU). Thirty per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults experience high or very high psychological distress, compared to 13 per cent of non-Indigenous adults. According to senior author Professor Ray Lovett, more than 47 per cent of this gap could be caused by just eight different types of interpersonal racial discrimination.  "In a world without racism, these figures would be equivalent," Professor Ray Lovett (Ngiyampaa/Wongaibon) said. "The health and social inequities we see today between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous people are not due to biology or race - they are clear, direct consequences of Australia's settler-colonial history and ongoing racism." These findings are based on the stories of almost 10,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults who took part in the Mayi Kuwayu Study , a national study of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander wellbeing.  "We looked at instances of discrimination that might happen during everyday interactions with other people-for example, being treated with less respect than others or being unfairly bothered by police," co-author Dr Katie Thurber said. "The experiences captured in our study are just the tip of the iceberg.